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The Positive Negative: When “Don’t” is the Right Strategic Choice

Posted on 10/02/2013 by ·
The Positive Negative: When "Don't" is the Right Strategic Choice by Laura Stack #productivity

"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake." — Napoleon Bonaparte, legendary French general and emperor. "You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction." -- Alvin Toffler, American writer and futurist. The thesis of my upcoming book, Execution IS the Strategy (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, March 2014), is simple: business moves so fast today that you must empower front-line workers to take strategy into their own hands, moving ahead with what works and executing in the moment to maximize organizational success. We can no longer leave strategy to executive teams that plan 3-5 years ahead, because multiyear plans go stale before the toner dries on the printouts. Think about it: Do you remember what … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership & Teamwork · Tagged: ,

Reducing Inefficiencies and Breaking Bottlenecks

Posted on 09/27/2013 by ·

Productive people are on a quest for constant reevaluation and change, so you can reduce all inefficiencies inherent to your job. Never assume the way you do things is the best possible way to do them; in fact, it probably isn't. There's almost always a better way. So take the new information you've acquired, use it to create more efficient processes, and put those processes to work. Even as you implement the new processes, you'll find some are more effective than others. So actively evaluate what works and what doesn't, and weed out the poor producers. In many cases, a broken process isn't flawed. A few tweaks may transform it into something useful and productive. So when something fails you, start by asking questions to figure out why: What changes can you make to improve the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Time Management · Tagged:

The Teamwork Triangle: Building a Reliable Workplace Team

Posted on 09/25/2013 by ·
The Teamwork Triangle: Building a Reliable Workplace Team by Laura Stack #productivity

"Teamwork is the quintessential contradiction of a society grounded in individual achievement." — Marvin Weisbord, American organizational development expert. "Not finance. Not strategy. Not technology. It is teamwork that remains the ultimate competitive advantage, both because it is so powerful and so rare." -- Patrick Lencioni, American author of The Five Dysfunctions of a Team. Many productivity experts focus on individual productivity, even though few of us actually work completely alone. With rare exceptions, each of us fills a slot in a team focused on specific tasks and projects. Team productivity is as crucial as personal productivity, if not more so; but it can be difficult to maintain, since a workplace team can only be as strong as its weakest link. Accordingly, it's your … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership & Teamwork · Tagged:

Crack That Whip! The Importance of Self-Discipline

Posted on 09/23/2013 by ·
Crack That Whip! The Importance of Self-Discipline by Laura Stack #productivity

Do you complete your workplace tasks within the promised timeframes? Or do deadlines ever slip past you, even as you curse your own stupidity? When that happens, it’s hard to focus on anything productive, because a dark cloud hangs over your head, and guilt sucks the energy right out of you. If you ever think, "Maybe I shouldn't be doing this right now," you're probably right. How much time could you save by tightening your self-control? If you arrived at work and didn't stop for coffee, didn't talk to a friend, didn't fall into the email trap for 90 minutes, where could you use the extra time? Instead of wasting your day, start cracking the whip of self-discipline. Several areas to think about include procrastination, tardiness, and perfectionism. Um, Can We Talk About This … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Performance · Tagged: , ,

Accept the Credit When It’s Due—and the Blame, Too

Posted on 09/20/2013 by ·
Accept the Credit When It’s Due—and the Blame, Too. Moving from the “Employee” to the “Employer” Mindset by Laura Stack #productivity

Accept the Credit When It’s Due—and the Blame, Too. Moving from the “Employee” to the “Employer” Mindset Accountable people follow through on their promises, and they don’t blame others if unforeseen circumstances trip them up. They honor Harry S. Truman's favorite expression: "The buck stops here." To what extent do you refuse to blame other people or external factors when things don’t go right? Accepting personal responsibility is challenging, even for otherwise competent professionals. Case in point: before every speaking engagement, I send my client a ten-question email survey to forward to 15-20 random audience members (the responses help me tailor my comments to the group and make sure I'm addressing the correct issues). One of the questions is, "What is the number one thing you … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership & Teamwork, Performance · Tagged:

Beyond the Talk: Why Only Performance Matters

Posted on 09/18/2013 by ·
Beyond the Talk: Why Only Performance Matters by Laura Stack #productivity

"An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises." -- Mae West, American actress. "Confidence... thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live." -- Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd President of the United States. If talk got things done, humanity would already have colonies all over the solar system, and we'd probably be reaching for the stars. Instead, we all but gave up on manned spaceflight more than 40 years ago, and decided to send (relatively) cheap robotic probes to the planets instead. Not that they've been a waste; we've learned a lot. But our entire species is still living on one planet. My point? Simply that with a few therapeutic exceptions, no amount of talking and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Performance · Tagged: ,

The Evils of Micromanaging, and How to Overcome Them

Posted on 09/16/2013 by ·
The Evils of Micromanaging, and How to Overcome Them by Laura Stack #productivity

For those of you who manage others, let’s begin with a quiz to do a quick check of your micromanagement tendencies. Please read through these questions carefully and answer them honestly, yes or no. What’s true of you most of the time? Do you often find yourself standing over subordinates’ shoulders, directing their work? Do you regularly redo your employees' work, even as a form of instruction? Do you second-guess employees on a daily basis? Do you require sign-off on every task, no matter how minor? Are you convinced of the truth of the old saying, "If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself"? Do you work 12+ a day, trying to put out brushfires and rechecking everything you're responsible for? Do you have a hard time focusing on the big picture? If … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Leadership & Teamwork · Tagged: , , ,

Ruthless Prioritization

Posted on 09/11/2013 by ·
Ruthless Prioritization by Laura Stack #productivity

Based on a mountain of evidence (and my own extensive experience), it's clear that prioritization is one of the most difficult issues plaguing modern workers, who stare at 117-item to-do lists. This holds true from the lowliest intern all the way up to the pinnacle of the C-Suite. Because you only have so much time in your day, you have to spend some of it figuring out how to rank order your tasks. You know how difficult this can be and how easily fumbled—we've all dropped the ball occasionally. You may have problems setting priorities for the multiple projects you're juggling, or your boss may insist everything she hands you has top priority. Whatever the case, you have to scramble to keep up, risking overwork and overwhelm. With that bald reality staring you in the face, one thing … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Time Management · Tagged: , ,

Email in Black and White

Posted on 09/09/2013 by ·

Sometimes technology seems more trouble than it's worth (e.g., the spam clogging our email inboxes). You already know how to blacklist spammers, marking them as junk or creating a rule to send them straight to Deleted Items. But do you whitelist? Set up a new email address dedicated to inbound messages from your work team and protect it with a whitelist. 1. While in the secret account, open your e-mail client's Whitelist feature. You'll usually find the Safe Senders option under Filters or Junk Mail settings. 2. Create your whitelist. Add ONLY the addresses of project teammates, your manager, key partners, and major clients who will use the “secret” email address. 3. Change the FROM field when responding. One click sets the From field back to your regular email address, so … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Tools & Systems · Tagged: , , ,

Walking the Tightrope

Posted on 09/06/2013 by ·
Walking the Tightrope by Laura Stack #productivity

I realize all you young go-getters would work 25/8 if possible; however, heed this advice from a 20-year business veteran who tried that: 1. You can't maintain a breakneck pace forever. Sure, you have to invest plenty of time getting your business aloft, but you shouldn't still be working so hard three years later. Something's gotta give—don't let it be you. 2. Protect your time. Keep external challenges from destroying your focus and eating your precious time. Block out time to concentrate on your strategic priorities and erect barriers against interruptions. 3. Know when to unplug. If you don’t take care of yourself and get the R&R you need, you won’t have the energy to take care of your business and other people. Carve out personal time to do the things you enjoy, away from … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Life Balance · Tagged: , , , ,